Astec Industries, Inc. announced its financial results for third quarter 2020 ending Sept. 30, including a 9.5 percent drop in net sales.
Third quarter of 2020 net sales of $231.4 million decreased 9.5% compared to $255.8 million for the third quarter of 2019. Domestic sales decreased $8.5 million or 4.5% and international sales decreased $15.9 million or 24.1% due mainly to COVID-19 related business disruptions in the third quarter versus last year.
Excluding the impact of foreign currency, net sales decreased 8.5%.
Backlog as of September 30, 2020 of $218.5 million decreased $25.4 million, or 10.4% compared to the backlog of $243.9 million a year ago driven by lower Materials and Infrastructure Solutions orders, which were down 8.5% and 11.3%, respectively. Domestic backlog decreased by 4.3% to $151.3 million while international backlog decreased by 21.8% to $67.2 million. Lower orders were driven by COVID-19 uncertainties.
Operating loss of $0.8 million in the third quarter of 2020 decreased 124.2% compared to operating income of $3.3 million in the third quarter 2019. In relation to the company’s efforts to simplify the organization, the company incurred a $3.9 million pre-tax restructuring and other or $0.13 per share net of taxes related to asset impairment, inventory write-down, reduction in labor force and the closing of our Mequon, Wisconsin and Enid, Oklahoma facilities. Third quarter of 2020 adjusted operating income of $4.1 million, decreased 2.3% compared to $4.2 million a year ago. Adjusted operating margin of 1.8% increased 20 basis points from 1.6% in third quarter 2019 as operational efficiencies outpaced a decline in sales. SG&A expenses increased $1.2 million or 2.5% primarily due to the acquisitions of BMH Systems ("St. Bruno") and CON-E-CO ("Blair").
Net income of $1.6 million decreased 45.2% compared to $3.0 million a year ago, while EPS of $0.07 decreased 46.2% compared to $0.13 for third quarter 2019. Excluding restructuring charges mentioned above, adjusted net income of $4.6 million increased 21.7% compared to the prior year period, while adjusted EPS of $0.20 increased 17.6% compared to $0.17 for third quarter 2019. Adjusted EBITDA of $11.0 million increased 2.4% compared to $10.7 million a year ago. Adjusted EBITDA margin of 4.8% increased 60 basis points from 4.2% in third quarter 2019.
Barry Ruffalo, CEO of Astec, said, “I am pleased with our continued ability to execute against our strategic initiatives of Simplify, Focus and Grow. Furthermore, as a direct result of the initiatives taken since 2019 related to our strategic transformation and our continued focus on operational excellence, while net sales decreased, we achieved further adjusted gross and adjusted EBITDA margin expansion during the quarter. During the third quarter, we continued to drive operational excellence across the organization resulting in solid third quarter performance.
"As previously communicated, we closed on the acquisitions of two premier full-line concrete batch plant manufacturers, Blair and St. Bruno, which strengthened our Infrastructure Solutions segment. The integration is going well and we are already beginning to benefit from purchasing synergies. We continue to focus on our Rock to Road strategy to build on our strong foundational product lines.
"We continue to execute on COVID-19 measures in order to ensure the health and wellbeing of our employees, their families and communities in which we operate, while continuing to serve our customers’ critical needs."
Below is a COVID-related update by category:
Balance Sheet and Liquidity
The Company remains focused on liquidity and cash generation. We ended the quarter with a net cash position of $108.5 million with total debt of $0.9 million. The Company has available liquidity in excess of $260.0 million as of September 30, 2020.
Operations
All of our facilities are operational and able to meet current demand levels. We continue to manufacture our products for building and maintaining the infrastructure used to move goods to market, facilitate the transportation needs of communities and for public health and safety.
Supply Chain
We have not experienced any interruption to our supply chain and are able to source the necessary materials needed to meet our customers’ needs. We are closely monitoring our supply chain and are ready to take proactive actions as needed to mitigate any potential disruptions. We are in frequent communication with our suppliers and customers to ensure business continuity.
Cost Management
We have implemented additional actions to help mitigate the financial and operations impacts of COVID-19, including reducing expenses and conserving cash. These actions include:
- Overall headcount reduction of approximately 12% since third quarter of 2019
- Discretionary spending reductions
- Working capital management to ensure efficient accounts receivable processing with our customers
Mr. Ruffalo continued, “We remain cautiously optimistic given we are well positioned to navigate the economic challenges related to the global pandemic with a streamlined organizational structure, a strong balance sheet and ample liquidity. I want to thank all our team members for their hard work and dedication and continued focus on our core values to serve our customers as OneAstec. I am confident that we are becoming a stronger and more resilient organization as we continue to focus on operational excellence and enhancing long-term stakeholder value.”